Freedom
by roo17
Summary: Sequel to Arguments. Sometimes when you're in hell, heaven is found in the most unexpected places.


XxXxX

_Just tell the nurse you slipped and fell_

_It starts to sting as it starts to swell_

_She looks at you, she wants the truth_

_It's right out there in the waiting room with those hands_

_Looking just as sweet as he can_

_XxXxX_

_Broken down, hurt again_

_It never ends_

_Frightened and trembling_

_Did she fall again? An accident_

_Her eyes encircled in black again_

_For how long will you try?_

_Your facade can't disguise the fact that you're in misery_

_From the look in your eyes, I know you bleed internally_

_XxXxX_

I looked down at my brother with concerned filled eyes. He was laying in a hospital bed with both collarbones fractured, a bruised cheek, black eyes, a broken nose, and a concussion. I was sitting by his bedside with a broken leg, my crutch beside me on the floor. I also had several bruises on back, three fractured metacarpals, and a gash on my left temple. But I didn't care about myself, I was worried about my brother. I bit my lip, holding back tears that threatened to fall. This was all my fault. It was my idea to try and run away in the middle of the night. It was my fault we were caught. It was my fault my younger brother was like this.

I finally broke down, burying my face into my bandaged hands as I let out hard sobs. "I'm so sorry Luffy! I'm sorry… I can't get you out of this mess! I'm sorry I can't… I can't protect you… I'm sorry I'm such a horrible brother…! Please forgive me!" I continued to cry, finally allowing all my pent up concern and sorrow out. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I"m so sorry, Lu…"

A quiet knock at the door brought me out of my breakdown and I quickly wiped any traces of the fallen tears, turning around with a glare to see who was intruding. It was the red-haired doctor from earlier and I feel myself relax slightly. As long as it wasn't our foster parents, I welcomed any company. Especially if it was a doctor with news on Luffy. He looked down at the charts on his clipboard before looking up at me. "What's your name?"

"Ace," I quietly replied, giving a small sniffle. "I'm Luffy's older brother."

"The chart says he doesn't have any brothers."

"You don't have to be related by blood to be family." The man gave a gentle smile.

"I guess that's true." Silence fell in the room as I continued to stare at Luffy, hoping he would wake up any second. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. He'll most likely wake up tomorrow." I gave a nod to show I heard and he set his clipboard down. "You know, falling down the stairs wouldn't cause damage like this." I glanced up at him. "Are they abusing you?" I looked out the glass door at the two adults sitting in the hallway, both glaring at me; watching my every move so I don't accidentally give any information away.

"No," I replied, still looking at my 'parents' as I shook my head. He sighed, kneeling down next to me with caring and truly worried eyes.

"I can't help you or your brother, Ace, unless you speak up. If you do, I promise I'll do whatever I can to make sure they never hurt either of you again." I almost jumped at the offer, knowing that it was way to freedom. But I stopped myself before I answered. What if I did tell the doctor and he called CPS, but they wouldn't be able to take us away until tomorrow? Or next week? If that were to happen, our parents would beat us again, and Luffy could possibly die from another beating. I bit my lip, looking at him lying in the bed. Do I dare risk my brother's life?

"I wanna talk it over with him first," I said, and the doctor nodded.

"Okay. He should be away in the morning." He stood up and left the room, and parents entered next.

"Okay, time to go," my 'mother' firmly said, gripping my upper arm tightly. My 'father' place his hand on my shoulder squeezed hard, making me flinch in pain.

"No, I want to stay with Luffy." They didn't like that answer. My 'father' picked me up roughly as my 'mother' grabbed my crutch and I thrashed against them. "I have to stay with him!" They took me out of my brother's room and I thrashed harder. "No, I have to stay with Luffy! He needs me! He needs me!" All my yelling caught the attention of several nurses and doctors, including the red-haired one from earlier. "I have to stay with him!" I looked to the doctor with desperate eyes and he started to jog towards me, but a nurse quickly intervened as she said another patient needed to see him asap. He looked back to me with yearning eyes, wanting nothing more than to save me and my brother from the hell we were stuck in. "You better take care of him!" The doctor nodded before I disappeared around the corner. I bit my lip again as I finally calmed down. I was in for another good beating, yet all I could think of was Luffy lying in that bed with his injuries. It was my fault he was in the mess, and it was my fault I couldn't get us out. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as the memory of Luffy getting beat yesterday replayed in my mind, like a constant reminder of how much of a failure I really was.

Luffy woke up early in the morning, panicked and frightened. He remembered the events that took place yesterday and he searched for his brother worriedly. "Ace? Where are you? Ace?" He got out of bed and searched the room, finding no familiar faces around. He ran into the hallway, his anxiety growing every second his brother was missing. "Ace! Ace, where are you?" The red-haired doctor ran to the yelling child and brought him back into his room, setting back onto the bed. "Where's Ace?"

"He went back home," the doctor replied, but the news only made the young boy more fidgety. "He told me to take care of you until he came back." Luffy calmed down a little. "You really care about him, don't you." The boy nodded.

"He found me when I was just three and we lived on the streets for a while. We were doing fine and having fun. Ace even built us a treehouse hideout to live in! It was so awesome!" The boy's smile slowly faded. "But then some lady saw us and said we needed a proper place to live and placed us with foster parents two years ago. Ace always took care of me, no matter what, and he's always been there for me. I don't know what I'd do without him..." The doctor nodded, understanding why both boys were so close.

"Well listen, Luffy. I can help you two. I told your brother I'd do everything in my power to make sure they didn't harm you two again, but I need at least one of you to tell me what's going on."

"What did Ace tell you?"

"He wanted to talk to you about it." The boy seemed to bite his lip and looked at the bed, making the doctor wonder if either of the boys would ever speak up.

"What if we get someone even worse?" The doctor smiled.

"Not gonna happen. Because I'd be the one adopting you two." Luffy gave a big smile at this, and his eyes glistened with hope.

"Really? Yay! Thank you!" The doctor was tackled in a hug and both of them sat there laughing. "Okay, then when can you adopt us?"

"As soon as one of you speaks up about what's going on at the house."

"Okay, I'll speak up. I'll tell you everything you need to know. Oh, what's your name again?"

"It's–" A nurse burst into the room out of breath before the man could finish the sentence.

"Doctor, we have another patient that needs immediate medical attention!" The doctor nodded with seriousness as the new patient rolled by the room on a gurney. Luffy's heart stopped as he saw the patient too, and tears instantly rolled down his cheeks.

"A-Ace!" The doctor also seemed horrified as he approached the bloody and broken child. The boy was a mess with bones broken and protruding out of the skin and thick gashes everywhere that continually bled out. He also guessed there was some internal bleeding as well.

"Oh my god," he whispered under his breath. "What the hell happened?"

"His parents said he got hit by a car." The red-haired man's expression darkened and he told the nurses to call Child Protective Services. He quickly took Ace to the ER and told one of the nurses to stay with Luffy, ordering her not to let the parents anywhere near him until CPS arrived. Before he put the child under the anesthesia, Ace woke up and pulled the doctor close.

"Promise you'll take care of Luffy," he coughed. "Promise you'll get him out of there."

"I promise," the doctor replied. "And I promise I'll save you too. Just hang in there." The child gave a smile before closing his eyes.

XxXxX

I opened my eyes and gave a groan, feeling as if I had just been hit by a train. I tried to sit up, but someone gently pushed me down and I looked to see who it was. It was the red-haired doctor. He gave a smile. "Hey, hey! Look who's finally awake! Rise and shine, sleep beauty." I gave a weak chuckle before reality came down and hit me. Jerking up into a sitting position, I looked around the room.

"Where's Luffy? Is he okay? He's not with them, is–" I flinched in pain at the sudden movement I had made and doctor only seemed to laugh.

"Take it easy there, kid. No need to worry, Luffy's fine. I already signed all the papers and I am officially his new guardian." I blinked, trying to take in the information I just heard. Luffy… was free? A gave a smile, relieved to hear my brother would be taken care of. "Sorry, but I couldn't get guardianship over you as well. Turns out the CPS thinks I only have enough room- and sanity- to take care of the hyper boy. But–" I knew there had been a but coming. Or, I at least hoped there would be one. "–I did find someone else who would take care of you. And before you freak out, he lives right across the street from me, so you can still see your brother everyday."

"Speaking of Luffy, where is he?"

"At my house with a babysitter. She's a good friend of mind and the two seem to get along pretty well. I've only had the boy three days and he's already causing so much trouble!" But instead of being mad, the man simply laughed. "He's quite a handful, but definitely worth it. He'll grow up to a great lad one day." I gave a nod of agreement as I eased myself back onto the bed.

"I never got your name." The man gave a grin just as big as Luffy's.

"It's Shanks. And the guardian you'll be staying with is named Edward Newgate, but you can just call him Whitebeard."

"Whitebeard," I repeated the name and gave a small smile.

"He's a great father. He's already adopted fifteen others like you. I have a feeling you and him will get along great." A few days later I was released from the hospital and was shown to my new house. There, I met my new guardian Whitebeard and I have to admit, though he may look big and somewhat intimidating, he's one of the biggest softies I know. His fifteen other children were all older than me by at least eight years or more, but that didn't mean we weren't all good friends. I especially took a liking to a certain two named Marco and Thatch.

And as I raced into the street to be reunited with my younger brother, I couldn't help but smile. We both collided in a tight hug, staying there laughing until the sun went down. Why? Because as long as there's a hell, there will always be a heaven looking for you and, sometimes, you seem to find it in the most unexpected places.

_XxXxX_

_Laughing and smiling, happy and relieved_

_freedom is what they both achieved._

_One is laughing and tickled by older brother,_

_both of them happy to be with one another._

_Crying tears of happiness, holding in pure, warm bliss_

_both now free from hell's reaching abyss._

_Each with a new family and new home_

_they finally escaped the snow-enclosed dome._

_Because not too long did they have to wait_

_to realize nakama were waiting for them outside freedom's gate._

_XxXxX_

**Ivy was so happy to see all the reviews! She wants to give you all cookies! XD So sorry if this wasn't as good as the first, but at least it had a happy ending, neh? Please leave a review?**


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